Painting Reminiscences
by HanaCho101
Summary: She lost her memory. Her identity is unknown. She's living her new life as a normal human being. She's stuck in a world were these images become her nightmares. The only problem is that, now, she has to chose between who she used to be, and who she wants to be. On top of that, why is the Kazekage willing to help her? Rated "M" for a reason! Make sure to R&R!
1. Chapter 1

The characters', jutsu's, locations', etc; all belong to their original creator, Masashi Kishimoto.  
There's no harm in letting your imagination run wild!

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

**Painting Reminiscences**

Chapter 1

_"What? We're going on another mission? But, we just got back from one!" Kiba stated in disapproval towards Tsunade with a restless tint to his already angry temper._

_Tsunade didn't budge at his sudden outburst, all she could tell him was, "We're short on staff to help with this specific mission right now, so, deal with it!"_

_Kiba snarled underneath his breath before giving up on convincing the Hokage anymore than he already has on letting him and his teammates rest before setting off on another mission. She was right on being short on staff, but, he was really getting angry on them not getting a break from these missions._

_"So..." softly spoke Hinata next to her hot tempered teammate, "What type of mission is this?"_

_Tsunade hinted, "Glad that someone is interested.", before shooting Kiba a nasty look his way._

_Before she went on babbling, she continued in detail, "This is an A-rank mission."_

_"A-rank mission?" the members of Team 8 all said in unision._

_"Yes, an A-rank mission." before Tsunade went on, she reached for a rolled up scroll, before tossing it for Kiba to catch._

_"Rumor's going around between the Land of Rice and the Land of Sound that multiple killings have been shed in the surrounding villages. No one seems to know the full details, but, they know who may be behind the killings." Tsunade added._

_Seeing that Team 8 shot her a questioned look, she continued on, "The one they think may be behind all of this is Sasuke Uchiha."_

_"What're you wanting us to do?" Shino asked in his usual emotionless tone._

_"Since we're short on staff, I don't want you guys to fight. All you have to do is go to both the lands and ask around to see if any new information has been discovered."_

_Team 8 nodded in unision as to what they're needing to do. To all three teammates, hearing Sasuke's name mentioned in the mission, it must mean that this mission will be a hard one at that._

_"What should we do if we run into him?" Kiba asked._

_"If you run into him, do not fight him. But, if he attacks first, you have the right to fight him back." Tsunade added before continuing, "I want all of you guys to come back in one piece."_

_All three shinobi nodded in unision before Tsunade told them, "Dismissed!"_

Rain trickled from the trees above as the blue haired kunoichi struggled to stay on her feet as she walked through the dense forest that surrounded her. Every part of her body ached in agony. She didn't know where to go, all she knew was that she needed to get somewhere safe. But the thing is, she didn't know where safe was since she didn't even know where she was walking. As she rested her body against a nearby tree, she closed her tired eyes. It had been raining the whole day. Her clothes were soaked to the bone that when the wind blew past her, chills would overpower her body. The only way to keep herself warm was to make a fire somewhere dry, but, she had no luck due to the forest limbs being covered in water.

After resting for a split second, she started to walk again, but, lost her footing when she triped over a tree limb that had fallen from the high trees. Landing straight on her stomach, her body seized up in trumendous pain. She couldn't remember why she was in so much pain, but, all she knew was that that she needed someplace dry to hang her soaked clothes. As she slowly walked with a limp while she clutched her right arm with each agonizing breath she breathed in, she still pushed herself to keep moving.

_"Byakugan!" Hinata hollared at the signal her teammate Kiba had given her._

_As the veins around her eyes bulged in response to her d__ōjutsu kekkei genkai __being activated, she stayed hidden behind a tree as she looked straight ahead about 10 kilometres to see if she can see the figure that Kiba and his companion Akamaru had sniffed out. To her disbelief, the figure that they spotted earlier had already vanished._

_"Can you see him Hinata?" Shino asked as he from another tree branch a few feets away._

_Hinata shook her head in shame, "I'm sorry Shino, but, I lost him."_

_As Hinata stood there, the rest of her team met where she stood, "We can't sense him anymore. His scent had disappeared."_

_"Who do you think was targeting us?" Shino asked turning to look at Kiba._

_"Don't know." Kiba answered with the shrug of his shoulders, "All we can do now is finish up the mission and give the details to the Hokage."_

_Shino and Hinata both nodded in agreement. Before they were about to take off to the Land of Rice, Hinata was about to let loose of her Byakugan when out of the corner of her eye, a shadow rustles through the tree tops above them. She could hear the footsteps stomp on the branches above, a slight screeching from all different directions._

_"Above us!" Hinata warned her teammates._

_Within her saying that, they split up in different directions away from the thrown kunai knives that pierced the tree trunk where they stood. Sizzling was heard from all their ears. Upon looking closer, paper bombs were strung to each of the thrown kunai's. Within the instant of all three seperated teammates covering their face, the kunai's exploded in a fire ball of smoke and lit up tree bark, blowing back the teammates even more farther away from each other._

_Hinata's scrape covered clothing slammed into the ground hard, causing her to get the wind knocked out of her. As she tumbled over the beaten dirt, she steadied herself by her feet stopping herself from slamming into a nearby tree. As she came to a screeching hault, with her breath still unsteady, she slowly reached to her feet when the dust from her beaten body settled. With her Byakugan still activated, she scanned the area, but couldn't find her teammates anywhere. So, the only thing she could do, was stay where she stood. Remembering that if anyone where to attack them first, they have the right to attack back._

_As the silence surrounded her, she kept her ears open for any sounds that can be misheard. Timed ticked by. Nothing. More time ticked by. Nothing. The misheard silence was agonizing to her ears because she didn't know who or when she'll be attacked. Silence still luminated around her, until she heard the same screeching sounds from before come from all different directions._

_Hinata yelled, "Hakkesh__ō Kaiten__!" before she started spinning at an alarming speed while her release of chakra enveloped her rotation in a blue orb, redirecting the thrown kunai's back in their original direction._

_She could faintly hear sizzling sounds coming from the extra thrown kunai that came her way. As her Hakkesh__ō Kaiten__ let up, she took a glance up, "Paper bombs!"_

_Before she could react, they exploded deadly close, sending her a good feet away from where she stood, letting her beaten body slam furosiously through a couple branches before being slammed into a tree tunk. As the dust around her settled, her half lidded eyes peered around in disbelief that she wasn't able to stop the second round of kunai. Hinata went to stand, but, dropped right back down where she stood._

_With her body already bruised from the fall earlier, she still was determined to stand back on her own two feet. Even if it killed her, she needed to get back to her teammates. As she finally reached her feet slowly, she began to walk with her __Byakugan still activated. Her Byakugan was the only help she needed for right now. Making as much progress the best she could, Hinata could only get a couple feet ahead before her Byakugan reached it's limit, letting her normal vision take over within an instant. Within that time span, time seemed to have stopped as she could vaguely hear footsteps approaching from behind her._

_Turning around, she seen that their were two figures behind her, "Kiba? Shino? I-Is that you?"_

_The sound of excitement filled her voice at the sight of her teammates being behind her. When the dust had finally cleared, it was confirmed that it was really them. A sigh of exhausted relief had escaped her at the sight of her friends'._

_"Hinata!" Kiba took off towards Hinata with Shino following behind him, "Hinata, are you alright?"_

_A smile spread across her face while nodding her approval. Even though she was pretty beaten up, she was glad to still be alive. With Kiba and Shino just a couple feet away, she waited patiently for them to arrive next to her. With just letting her guard down, she was caught off guard by someone suddenly appearing behind her. Sasuke Uchiha. Before she could turn around to see who was standing behind her, a sharp strick to the side of her neck, hitting her Carotid Sinus. The hit was so hard that not only did it stop the blood flow to her brain, but, it also knocked off her headband. Kiba and Shino watched as their limb teammate fell straight to the ground unconscious._

_"You bastard!" Kiba's temper boiled deep inside him as he reached to pull out a kunai knife from his pouch._

_"Wait Kiba!" Shino shouted before Kiba threw his weapon, "If you throw it, you'll hit Hinata."_

_Kiba snarled in anger, "Dammit." before putting his kunai back in his pouch._

_Sasuke stood there with a smile slowly spreading across his face. Knowing that they won't attack with their teammate was held hostage. Right infront of both Kiba and Shino, Sasuke bent down and drapped the unconscious konoichi over his shoulders. _

_"Thanks for the offering." Sasuke said with a haunted look across his face so terrifying that even Akamaru was frightened, "I'll take good care of her."_

_With clentched fists, Kiba didn't just want to stand around and watch one of his teammates being taken away. The only way to save her was to get her back with force. Even if it'll probably seriously injure her, he was willing to risk anything just to save his teammate._

_"Let's go Akamaru!" Kiba shouted in absolute anger, with Akamaru's wolfly howl, they got ready for battle._

_After a couple hand seals were swiftly made without a mistake, Kiba shouted, "Gatsuuga!"_

_Within seconds, both Kiba and Akamaru jumped high into the air, they began to spin. Sasuke watched as both the companions started spinning faster and faster until a tornado like funnel formed around their bodies. With their sharp sense of smell, they were able to distinguish their pray without hurting their teammate. Kiba and Akamaru went in for the kill._

_With his Mangeky__ō Sharingan__ already activated, Sasuke was able to see the direction of which Kiba and Akamaru were coming from. When they came funneling closer, Sasuke jumped out of the way. He stared down below him to watch as Akamaru and Kiba dodge one another at the last minute. Instead of going down, Sasuke jumped even higher into the trees, taking off with the unconscious Hinata over his shoulders._

Thunder rumbled through the cloudy sky threatening more rain. It felt like hours since she started walking. After walking through some brush and some thorn bushes, scrapes reopened on her bruised skin as she walked through more bushes. Lightning lit the way as she stumbled through the brush..

_Where am I too find a place to rest _Hinata thought as she looked about her surroundings _I have no idea where I'm going_.

All that surrounded her were trees. Fog started to roll in as she continued walking. As her muscles ached with every step she took. She took a break under a nearby tree that looked dry enough for her to sit down. As she sat underneath the tree, she curled her sore legs close to her body to try and stay warm. As Hinata breathed in her hands, it started to rain again. This time it poured. Rain droplets soaked her hair, falling off of each of her strands like tears.

_It was damp and cold where she stayed. The darkness that surrounded her made the cell even more creapier. Little lamps were lit by a single flame in the corner of the cell, iluminating what darkness was left for her to distinguish by herself. With the cool air raising the hair up from her neck, Hinata carefully opened her lavendar orbs._

_"W-Where am I?" Hinata questioned herself as she looked around._

_The cell smelled of mold and decaing walls. The smell quickly filled her nostrils as she breathed in. Hinata held back the urge to puke. With her mind still fuzzy, she tried to look around, but, the jolt of pain from earlier made her stop mid turn. Slumping her head down to make the pain go away faster, Hinata steadied her breathing while she tried to heal her injuries. But, she realized that her wrists were shackled to the cell wall by chains. Seeing that there was no way for her to heal herself, she tried her best anyways. Silence filled her ears, that is, until footsteps filled her ears. Jolting her head up in wonder, she listened carefully to realize that there was only one set of footsteps walking down the hallway, then, stopping at the door she stayed hidden behind. It was quiet, that is, until the door to her cell opened with a defined creek, Hinata closed her eyes so that she couldn't see who'd walked in._

_"You're awake I see." said a very familiar voice._

_Hinata didn't dare to look up. She didn't want to know who was talking to her. She recognized the voice, but, she still didn't dare look up no mater how much she wanted too. Silence fell over the two, Hinata got the courage to peek up to see who was talking to her. There was no one there._

_An illusion? she questioned her mind as the thought of her mind playing tricks on her._

_Her thought was cut short when a hand swooped from out of nowhere, grasping her chin, slamming her head back in to the brick wall behind her. Twitching from the sudden pain that enveloped her head, she peeked back open her eyes again to be face to face with the figure staring straight back at her with his emotionless black orbs._

_Her breath hitched in shock, "S-Sasuke?"_

_A smile appeared on his face as he let go of her chin to push back the loose strands of her hair behind her ear, "It's been a while, Lady Hinata."_

_"W-What do you p-plan on d-doing with m-me?" Hinata spoke with so much hesitation in her voice that it made Sasuke smile even more._

_"Not what..." Sasuke said enthusiastically before he began to lean in closer to her ear, he whispered, "But how."_

_Hinata tried to speak, "What're you ta-", but, her question was cut short by a forceful pair of undefined lips were upon hers._

_Looking in shock and realization as to what was going on, she struggled to get his lips off of hers, but, her face was held strictly within his fingers as he forced enterance into her mouth with a slight flick of his tongue. With her heart beating fast with fear, she still kept on struggling. Sasuke pulled away as he gazed upon her flushed face of not only hesitation, but, of her being taken off gaurd of his sudden movements. With a smile still plastured on his face, he brushed another strand of hair behind her ear before doing anything else. Hinata tensed up as his hands explored every inch of her body ever so slowly. While one hand caressed her jawline, the other hand slipped down her thigh. Hinata jumped at the sudden press of the tips of his fingers down inbetween her legs. With her body trembling over of what Sasuke was doing, he used that same hand to forcefully open her legs._

_"S-Sasuke...p-please...n-no." Hinata whimpered behind her tears as she could feel his fingers sliding underneath the fabric of her pants that seperated his touch from grazzing over what he was intending to touch._

_S-Somone please...h-help m-me! her mind screamed as she feared what was going to happen next._

_"Sasuke..." said another voice, but, this one was unfamiliar to her ears, "It's time."_

_With disappointment clearly written all over his face, he stopped what he was doing to stare back at her with his still-the-same emotionless black orbs, sending chills down her very spine. Before turning around to leave with the unfamiliar voice that spoke before, Sasuke stared back at the strickened kunoichi before him._

_Leaning in, he whispered, "We'll finish where we left off later." into her ear before walking away._

_Time seemed to fly by. She was held up in a cell, now, she was in the main hall of the hideout where she was being held captive. She limped her way through the doors to be greeted by another familiar face. The face she feared since she first encountered it during her Chunin Exam days. That face still haunts her until this very moment. He may have stood in the middle of the clearing, but, he seemed so close to where she could almost feel his breath brush past her neck. _

_"Ah, welcome Lady Hinata." said the huskily determined voice. None other than Orochimaru._

_The look he gave her sent shivers throughout her whole body. His yellow orbs pierced through her pastel purple fear struck eyes. Hinata went to back up, but was stopped before she could go any farther._

_"Aw, the poor kunoichi's stricken with fear." he spoke while he chuckled underneath his breath, "I like it."_

_Just hearing his voice was like a poison ripping through her very viens. His voice frightened her to the bottom of her very soul. Before she knew it, she was then sitting in a chair, her wrists shackled to the arms of the chair while her neck was shackled in place. They clinked together everytime she moved any part of her aching body. With a sleek smile across his pale skin, Orochimaru steadied his way to the struggling kunoichi._

_"W-What do you p-plan on doing with m-me?" Hinata asked with anticipation in her voice._

_Orochimaru knelt down before her to look her straight in the eyes, "What I'm after is none other than your very own __kekkei genkai__."_

_My Byakugan? she questioned her mind again, not knowing why he was after it._

_"With your __kekkei genkai__, which grants their handler nearly 360 degree vision, x-ray vision, along with the ability to see the chakra's pathway system, it's a very useful ability indeed. Once I have it in my possession, I'll be able to reak havoc on not only the Hidden Leaf Village, but also, on the rest of the Hy__ūga__ clan as well."_

_Orochimaru reached to his feet, "The only thing I need to do now..." reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small remote control with two buttons on it; one green, one red, "Is push this green button."_

_He watched as Hinata stared remotely at the little remote in his right hand, "When I push this green button, the extraction of your __kekkei genkai__ will began. Also, every jutsu, every ability, along with all your memories will ceased to exist. You won't only forget hand signs or what jutsu you'll be able to do, but also, your identity will also disappear along with everything else. And believe me, this process is not going to be painless."_

_Hinata couldn't bear with hearing what all that he had to say. She feared him yes, but, what he planned on doing next was what feared her the most. Suddenly, a loud screeching noise rang through her ears. Hinata struggled to cover her ears, but, to no avail. With her head slumped down, she peeked through her lashes to see the hands of Orochimaru's index finger push down on the green button with a echoing click._

_It was quiet. Too quiet. That is until the ringing in her ears stopped, but, was shortly replaced by electric shocks being sent throughout her body. She swung her head back in forth with so much effort that her head could easily just rip off her shoulders. _

_"__**AAAAGGHHH~!**__"_

_Tears dripped down her face effortlessly as more electric shocks convulsed through her body. Her body arched in the upmost posistion you can ever imagine, her heartwretched scream continued to escape her lips, echoing off the walls, filling his ears with desire. Not only was her Byakugan being extracted from her, but, her very identity was being erased from her very existance._

The thunder that crackled around her didn't help with the ringing in her ears. With every image she plays in her head, the ringing of bells would leave behind a excrutiating pound throughout her skull. She couldn't figure out why though, but, she wished that these images of whatever sort they are would stop spinning. The rain wasn't making it any easier either.

Once the ringing had finally calmed down, she managed to reach her feet in an effort to keep on going. Her body cramped up due to her being soaked with the continuation of the falling rain. In her point of view, it looked like the sky was crying. Crying for what reason though. With each step she took, she stumpled, but, she'd get back on her feet and keep pushing herself to no end. It was getting hard for her to breath since she's been exposed to the cold for this long. As her muscles continued to cramp with every agonizing step she took, she knew that that she cannot stop and rest. Lightning lit part of the way as thick fog began to envelope her self being.

There was nowhere dry for her to take a rest. She was determined to find shelter somewhere. Anywhere. With a single step forward, her leg gave out from underneath her, sending the aching Hinata crashing hard in the dirt. As she tried to get up, she was too weak to even pick herself up. Then, realization of hopelessness overcomed her. As Hinata laid there in the dirt, she turned her head to see what was infront of her. In the distance of the fog, walked three figures. At an attempt to say something, only silence slipped from her chapped lips. As she shivered violently, unconsciousness began to take over. Without warning, she was surrounded by darkness once again.

_I-I was dreaming. In my dream, there was a girl with no memory as to where she was. I hope she finds her way though. It's scarey to not remember things that're important to you. I can see these three figures surrounding the girl. Two men and a woman. I don't recognize them, but, they seemed to recognize her from somewhere. I can see one of them talking, but, their voice seemed to be blurred. But also, I can see one on the men drape a coat over the girls as he hauled her on his back. I just don't get it though. Why do I suddenly feel warmer?_

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Reviews'/Comments are greatly appreciated.  
Stay tuned for Chapter 2 of **Painting Reminiscences**.


	2. Chapter 2

The characters', jutsu's, locations', etc; all belong to their original creator, Masashi Kishimoto.  
There's no harm in letting your imagination run wild!

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

**Painting Reminiscences**

Chapter 2

It was bright. Maybe a little bit too bright. Birds chirped outside the window high in the sky while the clouds scattered across the endless blue. It was slightly quiet, with a couple skuffles from feet here and there, but, in other words, it was still a tad bit quiet. As Hinata sturred where she laid, inbetween each movement she made, she could faintly hear the little whispers that surrounded her. Minutes passed where she remained, it had finally quieted down enough to where she could finally open her sore eyes. But when she opened her eyes, they quickly shut due the lights above blinding them to start watering at the sudden reaction. After her eyes stopped watering, she opened them slower this time, giving them a more or so reaction to get use to the bright light. With her mind still fuzzy, she slowly sat up.

_W-Where am...I?_ she thought as she stared at nothing.

As her eyes focused, she peered around to look at her new surroundings. She was surrounded by pastel green walls, with a occasional circle window here and there. The floors were a milk white tiled color. There were bookshelves on each wall holding lots of documents. A few more beds were to the left of her all hidden behind white curtains. At each bed was monitor with muti-colored buttons. Her gaze around the strange room was cut short with a continuous beeping noise. Loking over to see where the beeping was coming from, she spotted a thin tube taped to her hand. As her eyes followed the thin tube, it was connected to this bag of water that hung from a single hook with drips of water seeping from it. To the left of the metal stand, was a moniter with the same milti-colored buttons like the rest of them. A green line beeped across the grid looking picture as it monitered her heartbeat. With her mind still a buzz, she let's out a relentless sigh of curiousity. She was so caught up in the scenere of the room that she was in that she didn't even hear the door open on the other side of the room.

"You're finally wake." said another unfamiliar voice. A male's voice at that.

Hinata's breath caught in her throat. Her eyes filled with sudden fear. The moniter next to her began to beep faster. Sweat beaded down her forehead, soaking her bangs. Her breathing deepened and fastened. Hyperventilation began to take over.

_"You're awake I see." said a very familiar voice._

_Her breath hitched in shock, "S-Sasuke?"_

The ringing of bells echoed through her tender ears. Hinata curled her legs closer to her chest as she gripped at her skull, pulling at her strands in order to make the ringing stop. But, it just kept getting louder and must more sinister. It seemed to her like she was surrounded by the ringing of bells. She cringed her eyes shut in utter dismay.

_What was that just now?_ she asked herself in sincere confusion.

"Hey Miss..." said the male voice as he walked towards the stricken in fear female, "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

The medic heasistated as he slowly walked towards the hyperventilating girl. With instinct, he settled his hand softly on her shoulder, gently nudging her in order to calm her down.

Hinata jumped at the sudden touch of the medic's hand, without looking behind her, "D-Don't touch me!" she hollared with a fear filled tone as she smacked the medic's hand off her shoulder.

The medic backed up a couple inches giving her her personal space. It wasn't enough for the hesitated young women. The ringing still overpowered her ears. As the ringing grew louder, she pulled at her hair some more. Her body seized up. The ringing was unbearably frightening. Having the sudden feeling of running away from this place, Hinata abruptly ripped the needle out of her hand and jumped out of the bed that she grew comfortably to laying in. With the slightest touch of the cool tile coming in contact with her bare feet, she fell. The ringing in her ears had stopped. With her focus now on why she ended up on the floor, the scuffling of footsteps came around the bed and stopped by her. The medic knelt down on one knee, checking her to see if she'd hurt herself.

Hinata laid on the floor with wide eyes. She wasn't shocked because the ringing had stopped, but, something warm was streaming down her hand, down her slender fingers, dripping onto the tiled floor like rain. She soon fixed her eyes to look down at her hand. Blood. And lots of it dripped from her hand where she ripped the needle from. Seconds ticked by. Long, agonizing seconds ticked by. Almost like time was threatening to stand still. Without realization, she was being scooped up in the medics arms as he gently settled her back in the bed that she escaped from. She stared with intent curiousity at the medic as he pulled out a box, opened it, and began to take out gauze, rubbing alcohol, and a couple strips of tape. Hinata decided not to fight anymore. So, she lets the medic treat her bleeding hand.

It was silent, Hinata's curiousity took over as she spoke, "Earlier..."

"Hm?" the medic questioned her as he finished securing the bandage to her hand.

Hinata stared up at the ceiling of the pastel colored hospital room, "What you said earlier, I heard it from somewhere."

_But, where did I hear it from?_ echoed in her head as she laid there in the hospital bed in confusion.

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"The woman you guys brought in has woken up." said the medic as he stood a foot away from the Kazekage behind the desk.

"I see." the Kazekage answered nonchalantly as he didn't look up as he scanned the files he had in his hands.

With his arms by his side, the medic continued, "But..."

With that one word escaping the medic's confused mouth, the Kazekage looked up away from his papers to look at him, "What?"

"When I mentioned to her that she was awake, she started to hyperventilate." the medic mentioned to the Kazekage before contuing on, "Earlier before I left, she told me that she heard what I said from somewhere."

"Did she tell you where?" asked the Kazekage as he kept an eye on the medic who stood infront of him.

The medic shook his head, "Unfortunately no."

With a slight nod of, "Strange?" from his head, the Kazekage continued, "Almost like she's suffering from..."

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"Amnesia." said a different male medic who sat next to her in a chair with a blank document in his hand.

Hinata looked at the medic from her pillow as she asked, "Amnesia?" in confusion.

"Yes amnesia." the medic stated towards the distraut female in the bed, "Do you remember anything? Like, did you hit your head?"

Hinata stared at the male medic beside her, "Hit my...head?"

"I'll take that as a no." the medic said with a sigh before asking her another question, "Do you know where you are at least?"

_Why is he asking me all these questions?_ spoke her mind as she intintitavely shook her head no.

"I see." the medic responded while scratching his head with his pen, "Looks like I'll be needing to do a CAT scan."

"A CAT scan? What's that?" Hinata asked curiously while she faced the male medic.

"Think of it as an x-ray for your brain. If we do a CAT scan, we can see what going on with your brain to see if this amnesia is temporary." the medic reassured her with a smile, "Don't worry, it's painless."

_He watched as Hinata stared remotely at the little remote in his right hand, "When I push this green button, the extraction of your __kekkei genkai__ will began. Also, every jutsu, every ability, along with all your memories will ceased to exist. You won't only forget hand signs or what jutsu you'll be able to do, but also, your identity will also disappear along with everything else. And believe me, this process is not going to be painless."_

Ringing began to seep into her head _Everytime I try to remember something, this ringing becomes unbearably hard to handle. Why is that?_ echoed through her mind as she grabbed the bridge of her nose in displeasure to relieve her pounding head.

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"Is this your first CAT scan Miss..." asked the female medic who held up a blank file, "I'm sorry to not have asked earlier but, what's your name?"

Jumping at the sudden voice that distracted her from her gaze around the room, Hinata answered the female medic, "I'm sorry, b-but I...I really don't r-remember."

The female medic looked at her with a confused look, "You mean you don't remember your name?"

With her hand intertwined with each other, she began to twittle her thumbs, "N-No."

Seeing that she was still confused as to what was going on, the medic sent her a reassuring smile her way before ushering her to the table, "Nevermind my question from before."

Hinata looked up at the female medic before with a even more confused look on her eyes, "All you have to do is lay on this table."

"O-Okay." Hinata hesistated an answer towards the female medic.

As Hinata laid down on the cold table, she peeked back at the female medic to see what she was doing. She watched with content as the medic reached for bundle of cords from the top shelf. After unraveling the bundled cords, she began sticking sticky pads around on her forehead. After the few sticky pads were secured on her forehead, Hinata stared up at the female medic. With a reassuring smile, she pushed a single button. Slowly, the table began to back up, taking Hinata through the hallow towel. When Hinata's body was fully inside the hallow tube to where only her feet were sticking out, the female medic left.

After taking her seat in the room next to the CAT scan room, she pushed a button, lighting up the **CAT SCAN IN USE** sign outside the room so that people will know not to interrupt. Seconds later, the female medic looked through the window, she reached and pushed another button to dim the lights where the CAT scan was being done. After a couple minutes passed, she pushed a button that read **SPEAKER**, when it lit up yellow, she bent her head down to were she was just inches from the microphone.

"I'm needing you to lay perfectly still okay? So just relax. It'll only take a couple minutes. The CAT scan will be done before you know it." she asked through the microphone.

Hinata jumped in suprise from hearing the medic's voice through the microphone, "O-Okay." was her only answer.

After she pushed the **SPEAKER** button off, she reached her hand across the dash to push the **START SCAN** button. Within doing so, she watched from her seat through the window the light above the CAT scan blink red, letting her know that that it's about to start.

Inside the CAT scan, Hinata laid perfectly still. As she laid there, she watched with her eyes as the inside of the tube lit up a bright white color. The buzzing noise from the CAT scan seemed to calm her nervously beating heart. Seconds ticked by. Hinata still laid there perfectly still. So, she decided to close her eyes.

_It was quiet. Too quiet. That is until the ringing in her ears stopped, but, was shortly replaced by electric shocks being sent throughout her body. She swung her head back in forth with so much effort that her head could easily just rip off her shoulders. _

_"__**AAAAGGHHH~!**__"_

Hinata abruptly shot her eyes wide open at the sudden image that playe in her head. She could still hear that deaf defying scream echoe deep inside her mind. Her heart began to race in anxiety.

From behind the window, the female medic watched as the scan of her brain showed up on the moniter. With a note pad next to her, she was ready to scribble down anything that she thought would be suspicious. As the image of Hinata's brain was fully visible on the moniter, the medic looked it over. Nothing suspisious was seen. As the female medic scaned it over with her eyes one last time, she stopped mid way.

"What's this?" she questioned herself outloud.

"What'd you find?" said a young male's voice.

Jumping in surprise, the female medic turned to look behind her to see who spoke, she sighed in relief upon his glance, "Kazekage-sama, you scared me."

He didn't budge were he stood, with his arms crossed infront of him, he asked again impatiently, "What's you find?"

"R-Right." stuttered the female medic, she turned back around and pointed the end of her pen on the monitor, "Here. Take a look at this."

The Kazekage took a few steps toward the medic, he was just close enough to her back to where he cloud look over her shoulder at the monitor that displayed Hinata's brain. As he followed her brain, he too was confused as to why only that single spot on her brain was black while everything else was lit up white.

"Everything else seems normal, but..." the medic broke off the Kazekage's concentration on the black spot when she tapped it with the back of her pen, "This black spot is sort of suspicious."

"Do you know anything?" he asked the female medic with the same nonchalant tone as always.

"Lettme see." she answered as she looked closer at the scan on the moniter, her eyes traveled to the other part of the screen, "I don't get it."

"What is it?" asked the Kazekage with a new tone to his voice.

The Kazekage looked closer as he watched the medic's hand point to the top left of the screen, "Right here. Everything is normal, but, look at where the memory bar is."

He looked closer to see what she was talking about, everything was at a 100% scale, that's when he seen it too, "Her memory is at 0%?"

"Yes." the female medic answered with worry, "It's not amnesia she's suffering from, but, it's dementia."

"Dementia?" the Kazekage asked in confusion.

"It's a combination of loss of memory and loss of intellectual function." the medic answered him as she scribbled it down on the notepad next to her.

"In other words..." the female medic paused as she turned to face the Kazekage, "It's permanent."

Before the Kazekage could give her a response, he looked pasted her to see the twitching of Hinata's body inside the tunnel of the CAT scan. A the female medic gazed back through the window at where he was facing, she pushed the **SPEAKER** button.

"Are you alright?" she spoke through the microphone.

With her eyes still shut, the ringing returned to her ears even louder than before.

_Tears dripped down her face effortlessly as more electric shocks convulsed through her body. Her body arched in the upmost posistion you can ever imagine, her heartwretched scream continued to escape her lips, echoing off the walls, filling his ears with desire. Not only was her Byakugan being extracted from her, but, her very identity was being erased from her very existance._

With that memory already gone, the ringing in her head kept getting louder. With how badly she wanted to hold her head, she still remained still. But, the pain was too much for her to bear. Without warning, her mind went blank. Everything began to dissolve like vapor right before her eyes. She could hear people surround her. Chatter filled her ears making the ringing sound even more painful. The table was pulled out from inside the scanner. When her eyes suddenly hit the light from the CAT scan room, she felt relief consume her. But, it wasn't relief. Anxiety settled in. As the medics helped get the sticky pads from off of her forhead, her eyes rolled in the back of her skull. Her body began to convulse uncontrolably.

"She's having a seizure!" yelled another young female medic from inside the CAT scan room towards the people behind the window pan.

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

Hours passed by to where if felt like days as Hinata finally came too. As the heart moniter continuously beeped, Hinata slowly opened her exhausted eyes. She was back in the hospital room. With a breathing mask over her nose and mouth, she was too sore to move, let alone to blink her eyes. As she laid there in the bed, she listened to the calmness that consumed her by the sound of the beeping noise from the moniter that monitored her heartbeat. She could faintly hear chatter from outside the hospital room.

Outside the hospital room in the hallway, the male medic asked, "What are we to do Kazekage-sama?"

"Contact the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village." answered the Kazekage.

Before he continued with his answer, he peeked in through the cracked open door to the hospital room to see that the female konoichi had woken up. Drowsiness and confusion overpowered her face.

With his arms to his side, the Kazekage looked back at the medic who stood before him, "Let them know that we have one of their ninja bedridden."

"What about her condition?" asked the medic.

Instead of the Kazekage giving him a straight away answer, he stared back into the hospital room, watching her with content in his pastel blue eyes. When he had his fill of staring at the kunoichi in the other room, he turned the other direction.

"I'll tell them in detail." he answered, but, before he could walk away, he stopped, "For now, don't overwhelm her with your annoying questions."

When that was said, the Kazekage disappeared with the swooshing sound of his sand, leaving the kunoichi in the medic's hands.

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

Back in his office, The Kazekage sat in his chair. The stacks of papers he hadn't gotten done were piling up. Exhaustion took over his nerves as he slumped his head down on his hands.

_"Dementia?" the Kazekage asked in confusion._

_"It's a combination of loss of memory and loss of intellectual function." the medic answered him as she scribbled it down on the notepad next to her._

His muscles tensed up as the last bit of that memory played in his mind like a record of repeat.

_"In other words..." the female medic paused as she turned to face the Kazekage, "It's permanent."_

He gripped the bridge of his nose as the memory faded away from his mind. As his muscles released their tention, he sat straight in his chair. Sighing, he reached under the desk to pull out a blank scroll. As he unraveled it, he grabbed his paint brush, dipped it in the black ink, and began to write.

_Dementia. Dementia is __a combination of loss of memory and loss of intellectual function.__ The young man at the desk found out that the girl he'd brought back had dementia. I may not know anymore information about it, but, neither does he. I sort of feel bad for him. I mean, I may not know the guy, but, he seemed pretty worried about the girl. I just hope both of them will be okay._

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

Reviews'/Comments are greatly appreciated.  
Stay tuned for Chapter 3 of **Painting Reminiscences**.


	3. Chapter 3

The characters', jutsu's, locations', etc; all belong to their original creator, Masashi Kishimoto.  
There's no harm in letting your imagination run wild!

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

**Painting Reminiscences**

Chapter 3

It's been nearly three days since she's been in the hospital in the Land of Suna. Falling in and out of consciouness every couple hours. Under their Kazekage's orders, medic's have been checking on Hinata every hour on the dot to see if anything about her has changed. So far, nothing. It was late in the afternoon. The birds continuously chirped outside the hospital room as they soared through the high sky. As the continuous beeping sound kept beeping, the beeping seemed to have disappeared when Hinata stired in the hospital bed. As sweat beaded down her forehead, she continued to tremble and stire underneath the wooly comforter. Switching from side to side, you can tell by the looks on her face that she was afraid to wake up. Fearing that if she'd woken up, those pictures would attack her mind within an instant. Hinata tried for so long to keep her eyes shut in order for them not to get reminded of these images that keep swooping into her mind every chance they got. As she laid there, almost looking lifeless as she slept, the only thing that kept her calm was the beeping noise coming from the heart monitor.

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

Just at the end of the hallway on the last door to the left was the Kazekage's office. It was early for him to be up, but then again, he had papers to look over. Ignoring every remark from his sibilings that he needed to get some sleep, he still went on with his late nights, with very little sleep, and early mornings just to finish his paperwork. As he scanned with his eyes, inked with his brush, and put the document in the other seperate piles on his desk, he reached to grab for another one to repeat the process all over again. He was down to the last 15, when he stopped. Without even looking up, he glanced to the clock to his left to look at the time. It was 30 minutes past the hour when a medic was suppose to come in and give him the details on the sleeping konoichi in the hospital room. Even if it's the same answer every hour, he still had to know due to his strick orders to the medics to keep an eye on her. When no medic's of some sort didn't come in to let him know about the female's condition, he puts his brush down and sighs. The sand from the gourd next to his desk expelled very little sand to escape. With his palm out infront of him, he brought his other hands index and middle finger to his closed right eyes.

As the jutsu _Daisan no Me_ sounded in his head. With his other eye, he watched as the sand from his gourd encircled his awaiting palm. As the sand dripped from the circle, it uncovered his Third eye. As the Third Eye looked up at it's handler, the Kazekage clutched his hand, when he unraveled his clutched hand, it was gone. As he focused his senses, he was able to see through the Third Eye like he did with his regular one's. As he looked through his Third Eye, he can see that he was looking down at the restless konoichi in the hospital room. He watched her move around in her sleep. Sweat still covered her face as she stired in the bed. Whenever he was spying on her from time to time, he'd noticed that sweat would cover her face. He wondered for a couple days as to why she'd be covered in her own sweat. Just what was she dreaming about?

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

Hinata continuously stired in the bed from side to side, not from discomfort, but, from her forcing herself to keep her eyes closed. Within doing so made it harder for her to stay asleep. As she curled her body into a ball underneath the covers, her mind threatened to play the images she could faintly hear deep in her head if she were to wake up. But to her, that wasn't the problem, the real problem was was that she feared the faint ringing sound that echoed off the walls of her skull.

_The jolts of electricity continuously flooded through her viens, her screams becoming louder and much more sadder as the expelling of her Byakugan was almost complete. Sasuke stood next to Lord Orochimaru as he watch not in humor, but, in benevolence to the konoichi that was shackled to the chair. For some reason, the look that plastured on the girl's face didn't seem right. As he looked over from the corner of his eye, he watched as the smile on Lord Orochimaru's face grew even more sinister as the intense power of her Byakugan drifted through every vien in his body. Sasuke looked at him, then back at Hinata, then back at Orochimaru, then back at Hinata again. As her screams continued to bounce off the walls, with the swift movement of his hands, Sasuke snatched the remote from Lord Orochimaru's hands before he jumped to the back wall on the other side of the grand hall._

_"That's enough." Sasuke said with utter disgrace, as he pushed the red button on the remote to stop the extraction to go any farther._

_As the extraction stopped, Hinata slumped her head down as she fell into unconsciousness. Sasuke dropped the remote to the ground and stomped on it, shattering it into a million pieces under his feet. Orochimaru looked behind him not even fased with what he just did. With a smile, he reached his feet and chuckled in accomplishment._

_"What's so funny?" Sasuke asked him in confusion as to why he was laughing._

_With the swift movement of his hand, Orochimaru appeared before Sasuke, "There's no point in stopping it now."_

_With his eyes averted away from his evil yellow orbs, Sasuke asked him, "What do you mean?"_

_With a smile still on his face, Orochimaru leaned in and whicpered in his ear, "The extraction has been completed."_

_Without moving an inch away from him, Sasuke stood there and watched as Orochimaru straightened his back, turning around, and began to walk away with Kabuto by his side. Sasuke stood there in disblief, realizing that it was already to late. _

_Before Orochimaru left, he stopped mid-way to turn around to face Sasuke, "I already have what I wanted. Do whatever you want with her."_

_When Orochimaru and Kabuto left, Sasuke started walking towards the unconscious konoichi who was beyong limp in the shackled chair. When he arrived infront of her, he knelt down on his knee and grasped her chin in his hands, lifting her head up to where he was facing directly at her. As he stared at her scraped up face, he dropped her head as he reached to both of her wrists to unshackle them._

_After escaping the random traps that were set up down the halls of Orochimaru's hideout, Sasuke; with Hinata still unconscious on his back, he walked out into the fog. After walking through the fog for a couple of miles, Sasuske stopped, knelt down on both of his knees, gathering the unconscious konoichi in his arms before he leaned her against the tree where he stopped. When he positioned her back against the tree, he reached into his pocket to grab her headband. While he grasped it in his hand, he stared at Hinata with content in his eyes. Sighing, he puts her headband by her side. _

_Before he left her there, he brushed strands of her hair behind both her ears, before he leaned in to whispered in her ear, "Until we meet again, Lady Hinata." with a determined smile appearing on his face._

_With that said, he reached to his feet, and disappeared as the thick fog swallowed him, leaving the unconscious konoichi still leaned against the tree._

Abruptly sitting up, Hinata grasped her pounding head while pulling at her strands as the pounding pulsed harder with each ringing of the bells. With her eyes shut tightly, she curled herself in a ball again trying her hardest to relieve the pounding pain. After what seemed like hours; even though it'd been a couple minutes, her muscles finally relaxed, but, she didn't dare lay back down. As she still sat up in the hospital bed with her hands still placed to her skull, she settled her elbows down on her knees as the pounding began to disipate slower. When the pounding finally disappeared, she sighed in relief, knowing now she can finally think straight.

_This ringing. Why?_ echoed in her mind as she rubbed her temples in an attempt to calm herself down.

Without warning, Hinata stopped rubbing her temple's by the sound of the creaking hospital door opening and closing. As her body remained hidden behind the curtain, she watched in confusion as a casted shadow of a figure stopped infront of the curtain she stayed hidden behind. But, this figure was different then to what she was use to seeing.

It was silent in the hospital room, that is, until the figure on the other side of the curtain spoke, "How's your condition?"

_A male's voice? Another male medic maybe?_ repeated in her head as she stared at the figure she seen.

Hinata slumped her head at the blanket she was draped in before answering the unknown figure, "I-I'm doing alright. W-What happened to me? Why am I back in the hospital room?"

"You had a seizure during a CAT scan." answered the figure.

The figure can sense Hinata's fatique through her sigh, "But you don't need to worry. Everything is under control." the figure reassured her.

After a smile appeared across her face, she stared back up at the figure behind the curtain, "Are you one of the medic's coming to check up on me?"

"I wouldn't refer me as a medic, but.." the figure stopped before continuing, "I've given them strict orders to check up on you every hour on the hour."

_Strict orders?_ her mind questioned itself _Who is this guy if he's not a medic?_

She watched as the figure began to move. From the corner of her eye, she watched as a hand grasped the curtain to pull it open. When the curtain was fully pulled open revealing herself to the figure, she glanced up at him in curiousness. He looked a couple years older than her, and was a good 5 inches taller than her with red spikey hair, his fair skin atoned to his black ringed, pastel blue eyes, while the kanji sign for "Love" was clearly visible above his left eye. It was none other than the Kazekage. Hinata couldn't help but keep staring at him. In her eyes, he was handsome.

He caught her staring at him in the corner of his eyes, without leaving her eyes, he asked the dazed kunoichi, "Why're you staring at me?"

After she had looked away trying to hide her pink tinted cheeks behind her bangs, she asked him, "If you're not a medic, then, who are you?".

Seeing that all she's going to ask is questions, he was prepared to answer any of them to the best of his abilities, "I go by different names here in the Land of Suna."

Hinata peeked up from inbetween the strands of her bangs to stare at him as _Land of...Suna?_ repeated through her mind.

"Since you have no idea as to what I'm talking about, looks like I'm going to have to explain it to you." he insisted before he turned to look at her with his arms still crossed infront of his chest.

Seeing that he has her attention, he began, "To put it as simple as possible, the Land of Suna, also known as The Village Hidden in the Desert to the other surrounding villages, has it's fair share in what they call a reputation."

"A reputation?" she questioned outloud.

"To make a long story short, people in this village of Sunagakure feared me at first. But, after a certain amount of years when the village was in desperate need of a leader after the Fourth Kazekage had passed, I offered to become the leader to gain the villagers respect." he explained.

Hinata just stared at him blankly as she listened for him to continue, in which he did, "After a couple months, I was accepted as the Fifth Kazekage."

It was quiet between the, before he broke through the silence, "Like I mentioned before that I go by different names since I'm the Kazekage, but, I just want to be called Gaara."

_Gaara_... her mind spun by the sound of his name echoing like a record of repeat throughout her skull.

Silence surrounded the both of them as Hinata stared at Gaara, but, her gaze towards him was cut off by someone speaking out of the blue, "Kazekage-sama."

Gaara turned to face the medic who stood by the door to see him waving him to come out into the hallway.

He turned to face Hinata and told her, "Excuse me, but, I'm needed in the other room. I'll keep having my medics check up on you every hour." before he bowed and dismissed himself from the hospital room.

After closing the door to the hospital room leaving it cracked open, Gaara walked down the hallway as he followed him to the office. As he followed the medic, they passed a couple more going to opposite direction. Without even realizing it, both of them arrived infront of the his office. The medic soon stepped aside letting Gaara to be the first one to walk in since it's his office. The door creaked open, as Gaara lets himself in. Before he could even begin to walk to his desk, he looked up at the last minute to see that his office was filled with 3 people who were not from Land of Suna. By the look on their headbands, they were 2 of them were Jonin from Konohoa while the other one looked similar to the girl in the hospital room due to their eyes being the same.

"It's been a while, huh Gaara?" Kakashi spoke out amongst the other two with a wave.

Gaara answered with a, "Yes it has." along with a nod.

As the medic left the 4 of them alone, Kakashi spoke out again, "The Hokage got your letter and asked us to retrieve Hinata."

"Tell me..." said the man by the name Hiashi stood next to Kakashi, "Is my daughter alright?"

Gaara nodded, "Just 3 days ago, she had a seizure while we were finishing up her CAT scan." when he said that, he watched Hiashi's face tense up, so, he quickly added in, "Other than that, she's doing fine. I just finishing talking to her before I came here. From what I can see, it's like the seizure never fazed her."

With that said out of the blue, Gaara watched as Hiashi's face softened after hearing that his daughter was doing fine. Gaara can feel relief surround him as he walked passed the 3 men before stopping at his desk.

Kakashi asked Gaara, "Before we go visit Hinata in the hospital, what is it that you mentioned in the letter to the Hokage. She didn't tell us in full detail."

"Your daughter..." Gaara hinted towards Hiashi with a glance before looking at everyone else, "Is suffering from Dementia."

Seeing that the word got them confused, Gaara went on with explaining what it meant, "What I've researched in my books about it is that it's a change in brain function. For example, asking the same question over and over, not being able to follow directions, and getting confused easily."

"So it's similar to amnesia because of the lack of memory?" Hiashi asked out of curiousity.

"I wouldn't say it's similiar but then again I would say it is similar. Put it this way, it's a form of losing the brain cells to think and do basis functions." Gaara explained a little bit more.

As he bent down, Gaara opened the desk drawer, grasping the yellow envelope inside, before he places it on his desk after he closed the draw shut.

Guy, who was on the left of Kakashi, stared down at the yellow envelope on his desk and asked, "What is...?"

With the envelope in his hands, he opens it up to pull out the picture, "It's the CAT scan we did on Hinata's brain."

As the 3 other men in his office gathered around, Gaara held the CAT scan of her brain infront of the window in order for them to see what he wanted to show them.

"What's that?" Guy asked pointing at the place where Gaara was going to show them, "Why is this area black while everything else is white?"

"Look over here." Gaara mentioned to them as he pointed to where her memory meter was to the left side of the scan.

"It's at 0%?" Kakashi asked while he looked closer at the scan before looking at Gaara, "Almost like her memories been erased."

With a single nod, "Hm." Gaara had put the CAT scan back in it's envelope before returning it back inside his drawer.

"Is it permanent?" asked Hiashi in sudden concern.

As much as Gaara didn't want to break the news to Hinata's father, sighing, he couldn't help but slump his head down for a split second before looking back up at them, "There's a possibility that it's permanent, but, weren't not too sure yet."

The 3 men nodded in unison as to the news that had fallen upon them about one of their own ninja. After Gaara was finished talking, he walked back behind his desk and folded his hands when he sat down in the chair to listen to the chatter that suddenly filled the room of what should be done. As the 3 sensei's looked back at one another in wonder on what to do next, Kakashi jumped out of the chatter.

"Gaara..." he spoke making Gaara interrupt his deep train of thought, Gaara looks up at him from behind his desk, "You said that dementia is slightly similar to amnesia right?"

"Yes." Gaara answered the copy cat ninja before him.

"If it's true that she lost her memory, then, she's bound to not remember much or probably nothing at all." Kakashi thought out loud.

Hiashi asked, "Where're you going with this Kakashi?"

With his pointer finger on his chin, he tried to put his answer into a sentence that even a child could understand, "If her memory is gone, then, not only will she not remember any type of jutsu that she's learned from the academy, but, she won't know what hand sign's to use to begin with, along with not knowing how to use her Byakugan either."

"Almost like..." Hiashi's face cringed in anger just the thought of, "She would have to be taught from the very beginning."

"Along with Dementia, her ability to think will be affected as well." Kakashi noted after, "Making it at least ten times more harder in order for her to concentrate."

Guy and Hiashi nodded in unision as they stood there not knowing how else to deal with situation. The one that should be most worried about Hinata is her father. He looked more emotionally disturbed than anyone else in the room.

It was quiet for a split second, that is, until footsteps sounded at the door, as it opened, in walked a medic, "Kazekage-sama."

Gaara; without saying a single word, looked at the medic infront of him, "I checked up on the girl as you ordered. What else is there for me to do?"

As Gaara stood to his feet, he reached inside the drawer to grab the yellow envelope. As he held it in his hand, Gaara came out from behind his desk to face the medic, then, back at Kakashi, Guy, and Hiashi, "I'll take you to her."

- x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x -

"Aren't you going to eat your apples?" the female medic from the CAT scan room asked as she began to peel the last one with the peeler.

With wandering eyes, Hinata eyeballed the place of freshly sliced apples that she held in her hands. You could tell that she wasn't in the mood to eat anything.

"You haven't eaten in two days..." the woman told her before she began cutting the peeled apple into slices, "Just try and eat something, okay?"

Seeing that she wasn't going to win by ignoring her requests, Hinata delicately picked up a apple slice, and took a bite. It was crunchy, sweet, and very juicy as it slithered down her throat. Her stomach grumbled in excitement as Hinata smiled. After eating a few more, the female medic grabbed the empty plate from her to set it side on the table next to the hospital bed. From the corner of her eye, Hinata watched the female medic turned to the computer and began typing on the keyboard. As Hinata sat there and watched her, she turned back to face the front of her. As the clicking of the keys continued, they seemed to fade in the background as Hinata stared at nothing. Almost looking like she was trying to concentrate.

With her eyes fixed on nothing, she noticed that the things that surrounded her started to dissolve around her like water _What's going on?_

As she turned to look at the medic, she watched as the female medic at the computer shattered like glass, Hinata spoke, _M-My voice is gone,_ as everything evaporated away right infront of her. From out of nowhere, ringing.

_"You're even cuter when you're scared." Orochimaru spoke as he smeared away her tears with his sinister hands._

_There was nowhere to escape from his wicked stare. Just seeing him staring at her the way he did sent shivers throughout her body even though she was pinned by the kunai knives. With his own hand, she watched in fear as he brushed her hair from her face to reveal her porcelain complextion as it luminated off of from the sun that casted it's shadows through the leaves of the Forest of Death. With a gaze like his, so full of determination and clamity, Orochimaru cascaded his hand down her cheekbone, letting his index finger brush across her whimpering lips. Hinata shuttered before pulling her face away from his touch. A chuckle sounded through him from her reaction._

"Have you remembered anything yet?" the female asked after she finished up her typing.

When she didn't hear the kunoichi answer, she turned to look at her. As she did, she seen that Hinata was slumped forward with her head between her knees, with her hands to her head, as her fingers grasped her delicate strands.

In concern, the female medic reached her side with her hands on top of the shaking Hinata's shoulders, "Hey, are you alright?"

"What's wrong?" a sudden male voice interrupted. She looked back to see Gaara with 3 other men behind him.

"I don't know. I just turned away for a second." she answered with her voice now full of worry.

_His glare lingered everywhere and anywhere he pleased. Her trembling made him smile. As he stared deep into her pastel purple orbs, he licked his lips. Almost like he can taste her horror. Her delicious horror. Hinata watched his every move as her vision blurred with her tears. Her gaze was lost deep inside his. Almost like he was taking the very life she had. She could feel his hand snake up her neck. Her vein throbbing with anxiety as his hand lingered more up her neck._

_Leaning in, with his lips just brushing over the skin of her ear, he whispered, "You'll be the perfect host." before he let his tongue glide against her skin, tasting her sweat, taking in the taste of it's delicacy._

"..ata?" spoke a voice over the ringing that palpated through her skull.

_Who is this I'm hearing?_ her mind spoke out in curiousity.

Then, she heard it again, louder this time, "Hinata?"

_Who're they calling out too?_ echoed through her mind as she tried to figure out who was calling out to this unfamiliar name.

Seconds passed after the ringing had finally disappeared, making her able to open her eyes. Upon doing that, she released her hands from her tangled strands before looking up to see faces with concerned eyes looking down at her. She recognized two of them, but the other three she didn't.

"Thank goodness you're alright." spoke the female medic, making Hinata look in her direction, "You had me worried."

After the medic gave her a simple smile, she asked, "What happened?"

Hinata looked at the medic in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"By the way you looked, it seemed like you were being hypnotized." Gaara asnwered, resulting in Hinata to look up at him from the hospital bed.

"Hypnotized?" was all she asked before looking away from Gaara after he nodded.

Silence surrounded her as Hinata couldn't help but stare at the other 3 unfamiliar faces who faced her.

Without trying to sound rude, Hinata asked in hesitation as she stared back up at Gaara, "Who are they?"

"They're from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. They've come here to take you home." spoke Gaara nochalantly like always.

"To take me...home?" she answered with even more confusion in her voice while Gaara nodded.

After a split second had passed, Kakashi spoke out of the blue, "How do you feel Hinata-sama?"

_Hinata-sama? Why are they calling me that?_ questioned her mind as she couldn't help but shrug her shoulders without answering.

Seeing that she's not going to answer, Hiashi stepped forward to look at his daughter, "I'm so glad that you're okay." as a smile appeared on his face.

Hinata looked up to see the man before her, _His eyes...they're the same as mine_.

_She looks so confused right now, and, she doesn't understand why. I watch as the men make movemts towards the girl, while their mouths moved a mile a minute. I wish I could read lips. But, what I don't understand is that constant ringing. So loud, sinister, and never ending. And those pictures I see. They're so scarey. Why do I keep seeing them?_

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Reviews'/Comments are greatly appreciated.  
Stay tuned for Chapter 4 of **Painting Reminiscences**.


	4. Chapter 4

The characters', jutsu's, locations', etc; all belong to their original creator, Masashi Kishimoto.  
There's no harm in letting your imagination run wild!

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**Painting Reminiscences**

Chapter 4

"Glad to have you back Hinata-sama." Shizune said with a smile towards the kunoichi as she walked through the halls of Konohoa Hospital.

Hinata didn't say a word, she only nodded. It's been a month in a half since her return to Konohoa. A week after her arrival back home, Lady Tsunade arranged a meeting with the other Jonin; along with their students, to talk to them about what's been going on. After explaining what Gaara had explained to her in the message to the other Jonin and students about Hinata's dilema, she requested them to ease up on their curious questions. As Hinata continued walking down the hall after her little run in with Shizune, Hinata passed a couple medics on her way down the hall, she bowed as she walked past them.

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"Y-You wanted to see me Lady Tsunade?" Hinata spoke softly as she poked her head through the door of the Hokage's office.

With Tsunade sitting behind her desk, "Yes." was all she said as she motioned her hand for the kunoichi to come in before she motioned her hand again towards the chair infront of her desk, "Please, sit."

"O-Okay." Hinata hesitated as she walked in and sat in the chair infront of the Hokage.

"So..." Tsunade broke the silence that surrounded the two women as she asked, "Have you remembered anything since your arrival?"

Hinata shook her head, "N-No. Not that I know of." without even glancing up at her. She kept her eyes down looking at her lap as she watched herself play with her fingers.

"I see." Tsunade answered with a disappointed tone to her voice.

Since nothing more was being talked about, it remained silent once again. The birds that chirped outside the window chilled the silence, filling the room with life. After a couple seconds disappeared, Tsunade stood up from her chair to walk around it, appearing infront of the timid girl in the chair.

"Have you been writing in your notebook?" was all she asked, resulting in Hinata to look up from her twittling fingers.

_"Here." Lady Tsunade spoke with a notebook extending out to the hesitating kunoichi._

_"A notebook?" Hinata questioned the Hokage before grasping it from her grip to look at it in confusion._

_"Kakashi told me the rest of the details about what happened back in Suna." Tsunade said before continuing, "If you remember anything in particular, you are to write it down. After every week, you are to hand it in to me so that I can see if any progress is being made."_

_Before she dismissed her, she added in, "Think of it as a diary." with a smile._

_Hinata held the notebook close to her chest, "Okay." before she bowed and was dismissed._

"Yes I have." Hinata answered as she played off the pain from the ringing. It's been acting calmer since her return.

With a determined look plastured on her face, "It's almost the end of the week. When it comes time, just give it to Shizune and she'll give it to me."

Hinata nodded with a simple, "Okay."

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It was later that day. With the sun remained high in the sky as the skies above remained clear throughout afternoon. As Hinata walked through the village market, she stopped at a nearby stand since her attention was caught off guard by the glistening fruit that accompanied her stare. Many colors aisled the shelf of the eatable fruits and vegetables. Extending a hand up to the top shelf, she grasped a orange in her slender fingers.

"Would you like 3 of them?" asked the sudden female voice.

"Ah!" Hinata jumped, shreiking in shock, resulting in her dropping the orange.

Dropping the orange didn't faze her until she looked down to see it at her feet. Her face flushed red in embarrassment not because she dropped the orange, but, because she got scared over the woman behind the stand asking her a question, making her almost jump out of her skin. Hinata bent down to retreive the orange at her feet. After cleaning the dirt off of the orange with her hands, the woman watched Hinata dig in her pocket for change.

With her hand up, the female behind the stand said, "Don't worry about it."

Hinata stopped digging in her pocket for change to look up at the woman infront of her, "It's on me."

"R-Really?" she asked.

With reassuring nod, she answered with a single, "Yes." before she grabbed two more oranges, wrapping them up in paper before putting them in a paper bag.

After retrieving the paper bag, and after a few more words were exhcnaged, Hinata left with a wave goodbye. As Hinata walked her way through the village market not making anymore stops, she arrived near a bench by a nearby tree. After taking a seat on the bench, she opened her bag to pull out the a orange. After she peeled the skin off, she slipped a slice into her watery mouth with her sticky fingers. An hour had passed after she'd finished all three oranges and throwing the paper bag in the trash, Hinata reached her feet and stretched. It felt like it's been forever since she's been able to relax. As the wind greeted her from out of nowhere, calming her, she began to take her leave.

Before she could take just a few steps, someone called out, "Hinata!" from out of nowhere.

Stopping in her tracks, she looks back to see Sakura running her way with great speed. When she finally caught up to her; catching her breath in the process, she spoke out, "What're you doing later Hinata?"

"Nothing really. Why?" Hinata questioned the pink haired kunoichi.

With a wondering look on her face, Sakura asks, "Me, Into, TenTen and the guys are all going to Barbi-Q to eat. I rushed over here to see if you'd like to come join us."

With a smile, Hinata answered, "Okay."

Sakura returned a smile back, "Cool. Come by Barbi-Q around 7 tonight." before taking her leave with a wave goodbye.

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Seven came around way to quickly. By the time it rolled around, it was already starting to get dark. As Hinata zipped her jacket shut, she wandered over to her dresser to retrieve her notebook before putting it in her backpack. After putting her backback around her shoulder, she left her room to where Sakura had asked her to go. It didn't take long before she arrived. Chatter filled her ears as she walked in. She could hear Ino from where she stood as she walked down the narrow hall of Barbi-Q. A few steps later, she arrived where everyone had gathered.

"Hinata you're here." Sakura said in excitement waving her over to sit down between her and Ino.

When Hinata took her seat inbetween Sakura and Ino, she hauls her bookbag from around her shoulder to put it behind her.

"So, how is everything with you and this writing thing that Tsunade is having you do?" Sakura asks while putting the raw mean on the grill infront of her.

"I-It's going okay. I haven't written much though." Hinata answered quietly.

"At least you're writing it down." TenTen mentioned to the blue hair Hinata as she retrieved the cooked meat from the grill, "If you didn't, Lady Tsunade wouldn't know how to handle it." she finished before she dipped the cooked meat in sauce before eating it.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Hinata answered softly as she too began to put the raw pork tongues out on the grill.

"What is it that you have again?" Ino spat out with a sour tone to her voice, "Amnesia. Tachycardia."

"It's Dementia Ino." Sakura said towards her blond haired friend with a hint of anger.

Ino rolled her eyes, "Whatever." before reaching for her food on the grill.

"This isn't something to be making fun of." Kiba announced after he fed a piece of food to Akamaru.

"Relax you guys, besides, it's only temporary." Ino said before shoving the pork tongue in her mouth.

Neji; who sat between Kiba and Choji, peered at his cousin who wasn't saying anything, so, he did, "It's quite the opposite. We might not know how or why this happened, but-"

He was cut off my Ino's sarcastic remarks, "You guys are making such a fuss of over such a little thing. Yeah, she might of lost her memory, but, it's her fault for letting her gaurd down."

"Ino!" Sakura spat in anger as she raised her fist threatening to punch her across the room.

"What?" Ino questioned out angrily to her pink haired friend while pointing her chopsticks at her face, "I'm just saying that if she hadn't let her guard down, then, she wouldn't have been taken hostage by Sasuke."

The name _S-Sasuke?_ caught Hinata off gaurd, making her look towards Ino's direction.

_Her breath hitched in shock, "S-Sasuke?"_

_A smile appeared on his face as he let go of her chin to push back the loose strands of her hair behind her ear, "It's been a while, Lady Hinata."_

_Hinata tried to speak, "What're you ta-", but, her question was cut short by a forceful pair of undefined lips were upon hers._

Sitting across from her, Neji watched his cousin with tense eyes. Hinata on the other hand, ignored his glance by staring down at the floor she sat on. Hands twisting through her strands threatening to pull them as the endless ringing seemed to engulf her in it's frightening fury. Hinata hadn't noticed that everyone that had gathered around were looking at her with confusion. Including her cousin.

"Hinata?" Sakura asked in hesitation as she placed her hand on her shoulder, asking her, "Are you alright?"

When the ringing disappeared, Hinata glanced up to see everyone staring at her intensly, with a beat red face, Hinata nervously spoke, "W-What's w-wrong?" while her fingers nervously twittled uncontrolably underneath the table.

"Did you remember something?" TenTen asked looking at her before she ate her pork tongue.

"W-Well, kind of." she spoke in nervousness, "But, my mind was a l-little foggy, s-so, I couldn't m-make out what I s-seen."

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It was around 10PM that night when Hinata stumbled out of the shower. After she was dressed for the night, she towel dried her hair. It was quiet within the Hyūga's main house as everyone had gone to bed. Cricket's echoed off the walls of her bedroom in a relaxation as Hinata continuously towel dried her hair the best she could. After she threw the damp towel in her laundry basket before she plopped herself on her bed. As she stared up at the ceiling, she glanced over at her backpack that rested against her dresser. Without thinking, she found herself wandering over to grab her backpack. After unzipping it, she retrieved the notebook, and stared at it with an uneasiness to her action.

"Are you writing down what you remembered?" spoke her cousin out of nowhere, making her jump.

Hinata turned to face Neji who stood in the doorway of her room, she nodded, "Y-Yes."

Without any questions left to answer, Neji turned away before telling her, "I'll give you some privacy." before heading off to where he slept for the night.

With him gone and out of her sight, Hinata wandered over to her desk and sat down in the chair. After flipping through the pages that she'd written in previously, she grabbed for a pen and began to write.

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**I remembered something again today. I was invited by Sakura to join her and the rest of our friends at Barbi-Q to get together. When I'd taken my seat between Sakura and Ino, it was quite fun. But then, everyone started asking me questions' as to why I was writing down what I remembered. Even I couldn't give them a straight away answer. But when I did, Ino would make fun of me. Telling everyone to stop making a fuss over something that's only temporary. Ever since my arrival back in Konohoa after Lady Tsunade told everyone about what's going on with me, people've been either making fun of me, or, they'd send me weird glances. During the midst of us talking, Ino mentioned about me letting my guard down, telling everyone that it's my fault that I ended up being held hostage by this Sasuke guy. I didn't know who he was, but, when Ino mentioned his name, I started getting a really bad headache. That's when I remembered something. Almost like a video playing in my mind. I can still picture it now. All I could see is darkness, I think I seen a couple lights in the corner. Anyways, it was dark, and it smelled terrible. Just picturing it right now makes my stomach turn. I couldn't move and my arms were hurting. I can hear the rattling of chains. Then, I hear a voice. It was a male's voice. I recognized that tone of voice, but, I couldn't make out who it was because it was dark. That's when the figure came into view. His hair blended in with the darkness, but, his eyes were the only things I could see. Just seeing those eyes scare me. My hand won't stop shaking as I'm writing. I don't know why, but, I feel frightened by the way that that guy looks at me when those pictures play in my mind. Are these pictures I'm reliving trying to tell me something? If so, I wish they'd stop. The words he spoke to me "It's been a while" still gives me the creeps. This guy that I'm seeing, is he the guy that Ino mentioned earlier? Well, whoever he is, I wish he'd quite popping up in my head.**_

_**- Hinata**_

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"While I reread all of her previous entries to this one, it seems to me that she's not making much progress." Tsunade signed before putting the notebook that Shizune had given her this morning down on her desk.

"Well..." Shizune hinted to the Hokage, "You can at least give her credit for writing down what she's remembering."

Tsunade nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right." before taking a sip of her warm tea.

After she gulped a couple times, she looking at the entry in the notebook, "The person she's seeing in these things she calls pictures is none other than Sasuke."

"Also..." she added in as she flipped back a few pages and pointed at it, "In a couple other entries that she's written, she mentions Orochimaru's name in them as well."

Shizune followed her finger from over her shoulder, "Now that you mentioned it, I've noticed it too."

"It's weird." was all Tsunade mentioned as she took another sip of her tea.

Shizune looked at the blond haired woman with a puzzled look, "How is it weird?"

After watching Tsunade flip through a couple more pages, she pointed it out, "In all these entries, she's only mentioned those two."

"Do you think that they're the one's that caused her to loose her memory?" Shizune asked curiously.

"There's a possibility..." she answered Shizune before taking another sip of her tea before flipping through the pages aimlessly, "Even if she were to mention their names, she didn't say in any of the previous entries how and why they did what they did."

Nothing was said after that. Silence filled the air as the ticking of the clock was the only thing in the room that made noise. As Tsunade kept flipping back and forth through the notebook in her hands, a knock was heard on the door, disturbing the slience.

Without looking up from the notebook, "Enter." was all Tsunade said as she read what was written in the notebook.

"Sorry for entrrupting this late at night..." Kakashi apologized as he walked the rest of the way in from the hallway into her office, "But, he's arrived."

Before Tsunade could give Kakashi the okay for whom she requested to come here, he'd let himself in.

"I see that you didn't travel alone?" Tsunade asked with a raised eyebrow towards the guy that stood infront of her.

"They came because they wanted too." Gaara answered her as Baki and one the Sand's ANBU stood on either side of him.

"Lady Tsunade..." Shizune asked while looking at her, "Why'd you request them to come here?"

Without giving her assistant an answer to her question, Tsunade extended Hinata's notebook to Gaara, "Ever since her arrival back about a month ago, she hasn't had any progress as to what's happened to her."

Gaara walked closer to her desk, grasping the notebook before Tsunade added in, "So, I'm requesting that you'd take her back to Suna."

"What?!" Shizune spat with a shockingly confused tone, "Why're you sending her back to Suna?"

Tsunade looked up at her assistant, "She's having a difficult time adjusting to her home here in Konahoa. Also..." she paused to take a sip of her tea before continuing on, "Her father Hiashi Hyūga is still not able to cope with the lost of his daughter's memory."

"Just give it time Lady Tsunade. She'll come around." Shizune pleaded.

All Tsunade could do was shake her head, "Hiashi was the one who requested that his daughter would be taken back to Suna. As much as I don't want too, but, I cannot help but follow his request."

"Will she be able to at least come visit once in a while?" Shizune questioned Tsunade.

After taking a swig of the remaining tea in her cup, "That's all up to Hinata to decide. Even if she were to visit, the village will still look at her differently as they do now. The bullying on the other hand is what caught me off gaurd."

"Yeah, but-" Shizune spoke out.

Tsunade interrupting her half way through her sentence, "Not to mention, Hinata is also having some trust issues with her friends along with the rest of the villagers."

"Gaara..." Tsunade requested. He looked at her.

Without reverting her eyes from his, she questioned him, "If you were to take her back, would you be able to keep her writing in the notebook and be able to let me know what she's written?"

Without hesitation, Gaara gave her a a nod of acceptance to her question.

When nothing was said from Shizune, Tsunade questioned one last time, "Are you willing to take her back?" while staring at the guy infront of her.

Gaara nonchalantly at the Hokage before answering, "If that's what Hiashi requested, then fine."

She could hear them talking from on the other side of the office door. Her mind was so confused that she couldn't think straight. With her breath caught in her throat, Hinata gripped her shirt that hid behind her palpated heart as she tried her best to not let the tears fall. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard with her own ears.

_Poor girl. Finding out that she is to return back to Suna under her own father's request because of him not being able to cope with her condition, along with all the bullying and the stares she gets from the villagers. What a good father he is. If I were her, I'd ignore them. But then again, with Dementia, you cannot help but not being able to register the concept of their ignorant stares. I just wish that on a slim thread of hope that they'd change their mind. But, it looks to me that that it's not going to happen._

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Reviews'/Comments are greatly appreciated.  
Stay tuned for Chapter 5 of **Painting Reminiscences**.


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